The Wonderful Bliss

The flight from Kathmandu to Lukla in a Dornier aircraft was nerve-racking. As it made the final descent, it seemed we were headed directly for the mountains. Suddenly, the runway appeared at the edge of the valley and we all heaved a sigh of relief after a bumpy touchdown. We had a hurried meal and set off from Lukla on one of the most challenging, but exhilarating treks of our lives. 

One can't help a feeling of awe that creeps in as one treads the same path that legends like Tenzing, Hillary, and Reinhold Meissner walked on. Our first destination is Namchi Bazaar. We cross the Hillary bridge that spans the Dudhkosi river. Walking on the three feet-wide steel structure that undulates and occasionally swings certainly makes one appreciate the stable ground we walk on. As level ground makes way for the inclines, every step becomes an exercise in self-motivation and determination. The mind starts questioning the sanity of this whole masochist exercise. As the climb continues relentlessly, even the Everest Base Camp appears distant and unreachable. 

Only one way: Forward 
I reason to myself that we all go through such moments in life, too. In such moments, the only option left is to keep moving ahead, taking the next step. Besides, fatigue and exhaustion strike everyone with equal intensity, but you can't let them get the better of you. This philosophical approach surely makes the rest of the climb more bearable. In fact, it made me notice the tall pines and the lush green carpet draping the hills. After about an hour of toil, we catch the first glimpse of Everest from a small clearing — a morale-boosting sight that proved as therapeutic as a shot of steroids for our tired bodies. 

Namchi is a quaint little settlement in the hills, replete with all modern facilities, without, however, severing its umbilical cord with tradition. It serves as a major logistic head for all expeditions to the Everest. It is surrounded by some picturesque peaks like Ama-Dablam, Thamserku and Kusumkangru. 

The next day saw us on our way to Tengboche, a small village that houses the famous Tenboche monastery. Legend says that on summit day, Tenzing got a glimpse of this monastery from his tent and interpreted it as a good omen for his summit bid. The Buddha idol in this monastery looks on serenely, in harmony with the ambience. The surrounding peaks and the distant but clearly visible Everest range is the perfect setting to induce a meditative state. 

Majestic Mountains 
We continue our trek to Pangboche, where after a night halt, we move to Dingboche. In line with our acclimatisation protocol, we ascend nearly 1,000 feet from where we catch a glimpse of Makalu, Island peak, and Peak No. 38. We also see Choufula, a sacred peak that is worshipped by the locals. As part of ritual, the entire village abstains from any form of fire for three months every year, an unimaginable fact at such heights and temperatures, and testimony to the fact that humankind spares no ordeal in its eternal quest to access Divinity. 

Our next stop is Lobuche, which claims our first casualty of altitude sickness — a teammate suffers from continuous throbbing headaches, nausea and occasional shortness of breath. Suddenly, we realise our own fragility and vulnerability and how unforgiving these mountains can be. Treatment comprises of one main modality — descend — and quickly at that! We bid an emotional farewell to our colleague as he leaves with a porter. 

Golden Crest 
The terrain is now becoming more hostile. Morraine and rocks make climbing all the more difficult. As we make our way to the tea-house lodge at Gorakshep, the highest village on the Everest trek, we look forward to our final destination, Kala Patthar, at more than 18,000 feet. 

This is a mountain made up mostly of black rock, which gives it its name. After crossing a stretch of sandy level ground — the remains of Tethys — the ocean that existed prior to the collision of the continental plates — we ascend another 1,000 feet to a plateau. The sight was too awesome for words. We were surrounded by snow-clad magnificence — Pumorie, Cho-latse, the west shoulder of Everest and Lhotse. We were spellbound, and all the pain that had preceded the moment vanished. 

As the sun began to set, the majestic peaks were gradually devoured by shadows, and very soon, only the tips of the tallest, Mt Everest and Lhotse, managed to stay afloat in the fading sunlight. Those golden apices and the surreal mountainscape made us want to freeze the moment for eternity. I said a silent prayer for being able to experience this sublime masterpiece. When you see a canvas of this magnitude and splendour, you realise that all ego sublimates, and what remains is a desire to become one with this manifestation of divinity. 

A Final Letter To Grandpa

 Often, during my morning walks in the park, I can see a man in his 80s walking with his grandchild. The sight reminds me of my grandfather, who used to walk me in the same park when I was a child. An ideal grandpa, his presence made my childhood beautiful. 

Like any other child, I used to love listening to stories. And my constant refrain was for one ‘that never ended’. Finally, one day he told me the story of a bird which picks up a grain of wheat a day from a granary in a village, adding that it would take years for the stock to finish and till then, the story would continue. That was the end of my persistence!
    He had kept the child within him alive and every Saturday, when we visited the Hanuman temple, he would cajole me to have a plate at the panipuri stall. If I refused, he would tease me, “Oh, don’t behave like an old lady!” At 86, when his health started to fail, I would go alone to the temple and, passing by, could see visions of both of us laughing over plates of panipuri.
    He believed in doing his bit towards social work, which invited a fair amount of admiration, as well as criticism. Disturbed at the wagging tongues, I asked him once how he remained calm. He replied, “In every field, there are critics and admirers. But, if you are true to yourself, you needn’t bother about these things.”
    He knew how to deal with children. While he never liked pets in the house, I loved puppies and when I was four years old, brought an abandoned pup back from the basketball ground. The next day, I fed him in our garden and left for school. When I returned, the pup was no longer there. When I asked grandpa, instead of scolding me, he simply answered that, “his father came to take him away”.
    He was extremely particular about his exercise and daily schedule. He woke up early and went for his walk at 5:30 am, following the same route and returning at exactly the same time everyday. The routine was kept up even in the monsoons, when he took an umbrella along for company. Often, I went along too on these walks, where he kept me involved by quizzing me on spellings, capitals of places, riddles, etc.
    Once I reached second standard, I began writing a letter to grandpa every year on his birthday. He would read my letters with a smile. When I was in tenth standard, I gave him a gift, but he said he would prefer to receive a letter like each year. So, I continued. He, however, never commented and I sometimes wondered what he thought of my letter.
    He died at the age of 87. When he left us, dad decided to open an old suitcase, which belonged to grandpa and occupied a pride of place on his table. Along with important documents, in the safest pouch, dad found an envelope. He opened it and called me to take a look. When I looked inside, I found all the letters I had ever written to grandpa kept in sequence and well-maintained. There wasn’t a single fold on the pages and even the first letter, which was 15 years old, was intact.
    Tears welled up in my eyes. For a long time, I was overwhelmed. Thanks, grandpa, for giving me memories I will cherish all my life.

Why Was I Born...

Why was I born?' a young Amitabh Bachchan once angrily asked his father. The latter's reaction was something that Big B still remembers... 

The disciplined regimentation of boarding school has often been replaced by the free spirit of independence as one enters university. Parental control seemingly diminishes. Yes, there is respect and answerability but not as severe.

The campus also now has a diverse and varied section of alumni. Discussion and debate prevail. The state of the nation, politics, society, morality, existentialism, life; just about every conceivable subject worthy of putting your mind to. There is now also the added pressure of the future. Peer pressure has put upon you the responsibility of not just being able to stand on your own feet, but also the responsibility of keeping the rest of the family on their feet.

And that is when it happens! Frustration! The avenues and opportunities open to the youth today in an economically liberated India were absent in the late 50s and early 60s. After graduation what? Where to find a job? What job? How? When? And the idealism and debate and the coffee house banter soon converts itself to anger. The anger of not knowing what to do with ourselves. You look for answers. You turn to those that may have them. And in one 'enlightened' moment you get the answer from a fellow sufferer. "Why were we brought into this world? To suffer?" That's it! We should never have been brought into this world. Judgment passed. Angered, frustrated, strengthened and armed with unreasonable thought, I walked into my father's study one evening and for the first time in my life, with choked emotion, raised my voice at him and screamed: " Aapne hamme paida kyun kiya? "(Why did you give birth to me?)

My father, immersed as he always was in his writing, looked up at me with some initial surprise and then settled down to a more understanding posture and remained so for almost eternity. No one spoke. Not him. Not me. Not a sound. Just the measured clicking of the timepiece on his desk — and my unmeasured breathing! When nothing came across from the parent quarter, I turned and left. It was an uncomfortable night for me.

The next morning my father walked into my room, woke me up and handed me a sheet of paper and left. I opened it. It was a poem he had written overnight — titled Nayi Leek or The New Generation. Zindagi aur zamane ki kashmakash se ghabrakar mere ladke mujhse poochte hain, "Hamme paida kyun kiya tha?,aur mere paas iske siwa koi jawab nahin hai ki mere baap ne bhi mujhse bina pooche mujhe paida kiya tha, aur mere baap se bina pooche unke baap ne, unhe; Aur mere baba se bina pooche unke baap ne, unhe...Zindagi aur zamane ki kashmakash pahle bhi thi ab bhi hai, shayad zyada, aage bhi hogi, shayad aur zyada. Tumhi nayi leek dharana, apne baytoen se poochkar unhe paida karna! 

(Pulled and torn by the strains of life and living, my sons ask me "Why did you give birth to us?"And I do not possess an answer to this. That even my father did not ask me before giving birth to me, nor my father was asked by his father, nor my grand father did ask his father before bringing him. The trials and tribulations of life and living were there before and are there now too, perhaps more and shall be there tomorrow, even greater. Why don't you make a new beginning, a new thinking, ask your sons before giving birth to them!)

There are no excuses in life and no blame. Every morning is a fresh challenge. Either you learn to pick up the gauntlet and fight or learn to surrender to it. So long as there is life, there is struggle! " Jab tak jeevan hai, tab tak sanghgursh hai ," said my father, as he lay weak and almost comatose in his bed in Prateeksha .

The room is now adorned by his large framed photograph, exactly where he breathed his last. I dress his portrait with a garland of fresh flowers every day and a diya burns perpetually underneath. Few months ago, he was joined on the side by my mother's portrait.

Every day and every moment that I pass the room as I climb the staircase to my bedroom or down from it, I stop by the door and look at both of them. And ask for strength. It is the light of his wisdom that I endeavour to carry each day when I step out.

Mom, I Can See You Now......

That hoary, old diary was an eyesore. I had seen it lying unattended on an obscure shelf at our home at Galway in Ireland, where I was born. I told my father time and again to get rid of the obnoxious diary, but he always turned a deaf ear to all my entreaties. 

Frustrated, I stopped pestering him, but it remained an enigma why he didn't just throw away a diary with jottings in Urdu, which were Greek to my father and me, at that point in time.

After sometime, I left Ireland as I didn't get along with my stepmother Annett and went to London and Cairo for further studies.

Years rolled by and in that time, I never visited home. By then, I had become proficient in Urdu, Persian, Arabic and Turkish. One day, when I was at the world-renowned Al-azhar University in Cairo, I got a phone call from my father's secretary Mr Randall. He requested me to come to Galway immediately as my father was pretty unwell.

I had to go. The home had undergone a sea-change. Everything had been re-arranged, except for that diary, which was still there in the same position.

This time, the sight of it didn't exasperate me. I picked it up from the shelf, dusted it and started flipping through its well-nigh torn pages. It belonged to a woman named

Shagufta, who had penned, at times pencilled, down her stray thoughts in neat and chaste Urdu. I began to read, "I would not like my child to belong to any religion, caste, class or creed. He should belong to the entire mankind and humanity would be his only religion." All of a sudden, it dawned on me that
I was reading the diary of my late mother, who came from Pakistan and was not very educated. That a semi-educated Muslim woman could possess such modern thinking 30 years ago, made me all the more proud of my mother, whom I had never seen and who died when I was just an infant.

In no time, that diary became my greatest possession, and I felt a sense of gratitude to my father, who had never dispensed with it.

Today, it's my Gita, Bible, Quran and Avesta. What she wrote in her diary summed up the teachings of all religions and faiths. She taught me to be a good human being and I've been striving to justify her lofty ideals in my own humble way.

I doff my hat to her. Mom, this is my tribute to you. I don't even know who you were and how you looked. But, you must have been as beautiful as your thoughts. I love you, mom. 

Thank you, dadi

My grandmother and spices...they shared a great chemistry. She could easily give top-class French chefs a run for their money! 

I will always remember how fondly she cooked delicious mutton stew each time we visited her during our vacations. While the rest of the family gobbled up her sumptuous dish with traditional Indian rotis , I preferred Anglicised ways and chose hot buttered bread. Because of her age, dadi was more comfortable eating soft chapatis , yet she always told me, "Meghee, make just one toast for me too." 

It was most likely her own way of giving me company...something I will surely miss. Dadi would spend long hours in the kitchen, making jams and jellies and murabb a, which she would subsequently send out to all the members in the family. We both shared a common love for basking in the sun. Many a winter afternoon was spent with me and Ma lying on a folding bed and dadi in a plastic chair in theaangan , munching peanuts and enjoying the sun while discussing exactly why I have so many pimples on my face! 

Not long ago, as I sat near dadi's body, just before the cremation, I remembered how she had congratulated me earlier in the year when I had told her of my being appointed the English editor of my school. 

It was then that she told me that she too had held that very post at school in her time. The knowledge that I was, in a way, carrying forward a family tradition made me feel really proud. 

I also remember how she has once told me that it would be nice if I wrote an article about what she meant to me. So, as I sit doing just that, my sense of loss has slowly been overcome by a sense of duty, which I am trying to fulfill. 

I feel sad, but also very respectful towards my grandparents, without whom my own family and the generations to come would be impossible. 

For now, I cling to her memories and to the pullover she knitted for me, which incidentally, is the warmest pullover in my wardrobe...literally and figuratively. 

Visual Quiz 1

1.The person on the left, Harry Frazee wanted to finance the production of a Broadway musical. So he sold one 2.He was born in 1900 in Bombay.He played 22 test matches for England,captaining the side in 15 of them.A lawyer by qualification,he was also a member of the Territorial Army in the Second World War. He palyed his last test match against his country of birth and retired from cricket in 1934.Identify.

Ans. Douglas Jardine

2. While the world salutes Murali for 800 test wickets, who was his first victim in test cricket way back in 1992?

Ans. Craig McDermott


3. In the 2006 FIFA World Cup,Switzerland topped their group ahead of France and reached the pre-quarter final stage.They eventually lost (0-3) to Ukraine on penalties.What unique World Cup record was created by the Swiss football team at the 2006 edition.

Ans. Switzerland did not concede a single goal in regular or extra time at the 2006 edition.

 

4. In 1999 , he coached the New York Red Bulls to worst record in MLS (Major League Soccer) history.Alan Rothenberg,the US Soccer administrator who was instrumental in starting the MLS ,once called him the "Miracle Worker".Can you identify the gentleman and why does he feature in a FIFA World Cup quiz ?

Ans.Bora Milutinovic.

He is one of the only two persons to have coached five different teams at the World Cup: Mexico (1986), Costa Rica (1990), the United States (1994), Nigeria (1998), and China (2002).


5. This Brazilian player Manuel Francisco dos Santos was born with severe physical disabilities but grew up to become part of one of the finest Brazilian teams to ever play football.He was known by his nickname_____ which means wren,a little bird.Can you identify the player ?

Ans.Garrincha.

6. At the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Lothar Matthaeus of Germany created the record of playing in the most number of matches (25) in the World Cup.He also equaled the record of playing in 5 different World Cups from 1982-1998.He shares this record of playing in 5 World Cups with another player who played 11 matches from 1950-1966.Can you identify this player shown on the left,on the right is of course Lothar Matthaeus

.
Ans.Antonio Carbajal of Mexico.

7. In a 1986 World Cup match between Paraguay and Belgium,what unique first did Cayetano Re of Paraguay achieve.

Ans.Cayetano Re was the first coach to be sent off.

8. Can you recall this talented South American footballer,whose career was cut short during FIFA 1994 World Cup, due to his tragic death at the age of 27.

Ans. Andreas Escobar of Colombia.

He was shot dead outside a night club in Colombia,allegedly for scoring an own goal in a match against host nation USA at the FIFA 1994 World Cup.

9. On the same day when the two strongest teams in the world played in the 2002 Final in Japan, a specially-arranged match between the two weakest teams in the world was played in Bhutan called "The Other Final". Which was the other weakest team besides Bhutan?.The flag of the country is shown below.

Ans.Montserrat. Currently ranked 202 in the world.

10. This player was accused of stealing a bracelet and jailed in Colombia on his way to attending the 1970 World Cup Identify this famous footballer.

Ans.Bobby Moore.

11. The gentleman holding the FIFA World Cup trophy aloft,once described it using these words.

"The lines spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the world. From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact body of the sculpture rise the figures of two athletes at the stirring moment of victory"

Identify the person.

Ans: Silvio Gazzaniga. The sculptor of the FIFA World Cup trophy.

12. It literally means 'be happy'. It is made by a technology called GripnGroove. It has four triangular design elements on a white background. Eleven different colours are used in it. On 11th July 2010, a golden version of it will also be seen. What are we describing?

Ans.Jabulani. The official ball for the FIFA 2010 World Cup

13. In 1989 during a FIFA World Cup qualifying match,the goal keeper of this national squad fell down on the ground,with an apparent injury on his forehead.The injury was said to have been caused by a firework thrown by a rival fan.The side refused to carry on with the game,as the playing conditions were not safe.Video footage of the match,showed  the claim to be false and the country was banned from playing the qualifiers for the 1994 World Cup.The country in question has played in seven World Cups till now,starting from 1930 with a best finish of third position.The national side is nicknamed "La Roja" or "The Red One".Identify.The visual below may  serve as a clue.

Ans.Chile.The visual shows Ivan Zamarano,perhaps Chile's most famous footballer.

The incident described above occured in a World Cup qualifying match between Brazil and Chile,when the Chilean goal keeper Roberto Rojas attained infamy by feigning the injury and later receiving a life ban.

Incidentally the Spanish national football team is also known as "La Roja".

14. The "All Whites" made their only previous appearance in FIFA World Cup back in 1982,when they lost all 3 of their first round matches.They are making a comeback in the 2010 edition,having topped the regional qualification round.The visual shows perhaps the most well known footballer from the country,who currently plays for Blackburn Rovers.Identify the team.

Ans-New Zealand.The player shown in the visual is NZ captain Ryan Nelsen

General Quiz 3

 1. What eight letter word is used to describe the colourful truck-mounted
cultural displays by various states and government undertakings
following the military march-past in Republic Day parades?


Ans: Tableaus/ Tableaux
 
2 Situated near Naples, and last erupted in 1944, name the only active volcano on mainland Europe.


Ans: Vesuvius


3 The symbol of which annual competition is a lemniscate (the
mathematical symbol for infinity) intertwined with a circle, and features
the same 5 colours as the Olympic rings?


Ans: International Mathematics Olympiad
 
4 What short term, a homophone of a word that means dog-like, is often
used to refer to police dogs?
 
Ans: K9


5 What 5-letter word is usually part of the name of the brightest star in
any constellation?


Ans: Alpha


 6 Which planet's astrological symbol is a representation of a trident?
 
Ans: Neptune


7 Which Hindu God is known by the alternate name of Halayudha,
referring to his weapon of choice?
 
Ans: Balarama


8 Only two Governor-Generals of India were not noblemen (in other
words, did not have titles such as Lord / Baronet etc). One was the last
Governor-General, C. Rajagopalachari. Who was the other?


Ans: Warren Hastings


9 For many forms of competition, its official definition is that it measures
less than 14.2 hands at the withers. Horses are defined to be 14.2 or
taller. What?


Ans: Ponies
 
10 Between the reign of the Tughlaqs and that of the Lodis, for a period of
37 years much of northern India was under the sway of a dynasty
whose rulers claimed to be descendants of Prophet Mohammed. Name
this dynasty.


Ans: Sayyids
 
11 Which cantonment town of central India, whose name is considered an
initialism, was renamed as Dr. Ambedkar Nagar in 2003 by the
Government of Madhya Pradesh?


Ans: Mhow
 
12 If you were to earn the Golden Bails, Silver Bails or the Bronze Bails
award, what profession would you have to be in?


Ans: Cricket Umpires


13 Among the Navaratnas of Akbar's court, there were a pair of brothers.
The elder brother's name was was Faizi. What was the name of the
more well-known younger brother?
 
Ans: Abul Fazi


14 The vertebral column in humans is divided into four divisions. The
bottom three are thoracic, lumbar and sacral. What is the top-most
division called?


Ans: Servical


15 Which country's official Chinese name is Xinjiapo Gongheguo?


Ans: Singapore


16 The dihydrate of calcium sulphate is gypsum. What name for the
hemihydrate of calcium sulphate includes the capital of a European
country?


Ans: Plaster Of Paris
 
17 After whom was the Islamabad International Airport in Pakistan
renamed in June 2008?
 
Ans: Benazir Bhutto


18 Covering an area of 100km by 400km in East Antarctica, the Lambert is
the world’s largest what?


Ams: Glacier
 
19 What four-word phrase connects these places - Udaipur, Alleppey and
Srinagar (India), Lijiang City, Suzhou, Tongli, Wuzhen and Zhouzhuang
(China), Barisal City (Bangladesh), Ayutthaya and Bangkok (Thailand)?


Ans: Venice Of The East
 
20 On September 19, 2009, Yoshito Usui’s body was recovered by a
climber in the mountain range straddling Gunma and Nagano
prefectures. By creating which mischievous five-year old did Usui gain
his reputation in the 1990s?


Ans: Shin Chan
 
21 In the novels Executive Orders, Rainbow Six and The Bear and the
Dragon, who is the President of the USA?
 
Ans: Jack Ryan


22 Considered a holy place in multiple religions, which mountain peak
located in the Gangdise ranges is the only major peak above 6000m
that has remained free of climbing attempts?


Ans: Mount Kailash
 
23 What 2 word name would connect - a. the person who introduced
Kundalini Yoga and Sikhism to the United States b. possibly the only
Indian Army Officer who has a shrine built in his honour c. A famous
Punjabi poet.


Ans: Harbhajan Singh
 
24 It is a mass that accelerates by 1 ft/s² when a force of one pound-force
(lbf) is exerted on it; it is a piece of spacing material used in typesetting;
it is a gastropod mollusk without a shell. What?


Ans: Slug
 
25 Which cricketer who later gravitated to the London stage both preceded
and succeeded W.G. Grace as the English cricket team captain and
had a 100% win record as Test captain, in what was his only Test
match?


Ans: C Aubrey Smith
 
26 Before the start of shooting a movie or TV serial in Hawaii, a local
priest is typically brought in to bless the set. By what word do
Hawaiians refer to such a "priest, sorcerer, magician, wizard, minister
or expert in any profession"?


Ans: Kahuna
 
27 This word typically refers to a road on the side of a cliff or mountain,
with the ground rising on one side of the road and falling away on the
other. Which word that comes from the French for 'road on a ledge'?
 
Ans: Corniche


28 It is believed that one of the probable origins for the name of the
Malaysian dish, ‘Roti Canai’, which resembles the Kerala Paratha, is an
Indian city. Which city?


Ans: Chennai/ Madras
 
29 A well known form of this object is the America's Cup trophy. In the
forms that we encounter this object it can hold between 48 oz and 64
oz of liquid. What are we talking about, which traces its origin to a
Greek word meaning 'earthen vessel'?


Ans: Pitcher
 
30 Founder of the Satya Shodhak Samaj with the primary objective of
dismantling the caste system, which 19th century social reformer is
another person who is referred to as 'Mahatma'?


Ans: Jyotiba Phule
 
31 What anti-submarine weapon that destroyed its target by the shock of
exploding near it, was first used in the 1910s and employed a
hydrostatic pistol actuated by water pressure at a pre-selected depth to
trigger the detonation?


Ans: Depth Charge
 
32 What word seen in medical literature as a counterpart of the word
placebo is Latin for 'I will harm'?
 
Ans: Nocebo


33 Thiruvannamalai, a temple town midway on the Puducherry-Bangalore
National Highway (NH66) found fame in the 20
the century because of its association with which Advaita Vedanta guru who spent his entire
adulthood near this town?


Ans: Ramana Maharshi


34 Fill in the blanks in this line from a famous speech - "Two thousand
years ago the proudest boast was civis Romanus sum. Today, in the
world of freedom, the proudest boast is ___ ___ ___ _____".


Ans: Ich Bin Ein Berliner
 
35 The 2010 World Cup Finals will be played at Soccer City on the eastern
outskirts of Soweto. The stadium is built in the shape of which African
vegetable?
 
Ans: Calabash