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| Sunbyanyname in his own Zindagi Nahin Milegi Dobara |
There are men and women who do sky diving, suspended in the air as birds, opening their parachutes at the last minute. Then there are others who do tight rope walking between high-rise buildings defying death. One slip and precious life ends. However, they have this inner compulsion to accomplish the near impossible.
On 21st of January this year, Laura Dekker, a sixteen year old Dutch/German/New Zealander became the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe single-handed. At that age she had the greater part of her life ahead of her. She started in Aug 2010, a year after she had planned, when a Dutch Child Care Council stopped her departure on grounds of shared parental custody between her about-to-be-divorced parents. Dekker later commented about the authorities in an interview, saying “They thought it was dangerous. Well, everywhere is dangerous. They don’t sail and they don’t know what boats are, and they are scared of them.” As soon as I read the news, the first thing that occurred to me was the mental set-up of someone as young as her, braving seas, known and unknown dangers alone, all alone for more than a year. If something was to happen to her, she would have died a solitary and lonely death and probably even her dead body won’t have been found. And yet, after she has accomplished what she set out to do, she would have removed a number of words from her dictionary: Fear, Impossible, Small, and Underage.
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| Laura Dekker the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe (pic courtesy: in2eastafrica.net) |
Men and women would do anything to live and soar, even die doing it. When I was in my teens Richard Bach wrote his novella titled ‘Jonathan Livingstone Seagull’. The story is about the gull called Jonathan Livingstone who is bored by routine existence and wants to push his own capability to fly beyond what the seagulls can do. Because he wants to try something different, he is expelled from the flock. However, he persists and one day achieves perfection. “You’ve got to understand that a seagull is an unlimited idea of freedom, an image of the Great Gull.” He realizes that you have to be true to yourself: “You have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now, and nothing can stand in your way.” The idea of Richard Bach’s novella fascinated everyone immensely. Neil Diamond brought out a complete album of songs named Jonathan Livingstone Seagull with such songs as: Be, Flight of the Gull, Lonely Looking Sky, The Odyssey, and Dear Father. Here is Neil Diamond’s ‘Be’ for you:
Well, ladies and gentlemen, there may be other good reasons for men and women to go out on a limb. But, I have given you what I believe to be the best reason to do so.
LORD KRISHNA BECKONED – WE VISITED DWARKA
First about the title of this post. I have come to believe, through actual experiences, that whilst we are reputed to have ‘Free Will’, there are things beyond our control. One of these is visits to holy places; I believe that we are called or invited by God to visit them at times selected by Him. Let me relate an incident. I was second-in-command of India’s aircraft carrier Viraat in the year 1994-95. One of my sailors went on a pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi’s Shrine. On his return he brought Prashad (blessings of the gods)for me and an amulet. He said he had prayed for my promotion. He said I must visit Vaishno Devi for thanksgiving once I got promoted. I was duly promoted. I kept thinking about the thanksgiving though and knew it in my heart that this was one promise I won’t be able to fulfill. In the same year I was afflicted by a terrible skin-disease called Psoriasis and I was amongst the five percent people who get Psoriatic Arthropathy (a painful arthritis).
I got selected for the Higher Command course with the Army (at the College of Combat at Mhow in Madhya Pradesh; it has since been renamed the Army War College). The course revolved around visiting the length and breadth of the country in four major tours, understanding terrains, threat scenarios, formations etc and on return to wargame those scenarios. Our first tour was to the Army’s Northern Command, headquartered at Nagrota (near Jammu). We started our tour from Amritsar in Punjab. In addition to the professional visits, we visited the Golden Temple, the holiest Sikh temple, built by the fourth Sikh Guru Ram Das and completed by the fifth Guru Arjan Dev in 1604. Lo and behold, after we landed up at Nagrota, a visit to Vaishno Devi Shrine was organised for us. One has to trek about 12 kms or so from the Base Station Katra and I did it with my arthritic body. My course mates suggested I take a ride on a mule but I noticed my pains had vanished and there was renewed energy in me to climb up the hill. I had tears in my eyes when our group on the way up was greeted several times with the familiar singing by the other groups, “Chalo bulaava aaya hai, mata ne bulaaya hai” (Lets go and visit her, Maa Vaishno Devi has beckoned us).
And now about the Visit to Dwarka. The last when I visited Dwarka was in the year 1993 when the missile vessel that I commanded entered the port of Okha in Gujarat. After I retired from the Navy on 28th Feb 10, I could never even imagine going back there, much less to take my wife there. But, God, as I wrote above, beckons you in ways that appear strange to you. I joined India’s largest corporate Reliance Industries as a Senior Vice President looking after security. RIL’s Jamnagar refinery is the largest in the world served by RIL’s own port with a throughput of 115 million metric tonnes. Lo and behold, as with visit to Vaishno Devi’s Shrine, Lyn (short for Marilyn), found ourselves in the company’s flight to Jamnagar and Dwarka happens to be in Jamnagar district.
This time when we visited we saw vessels in Okha similar to the one that I commanded together with the ubiquitous fishing boats proudly flying the Indian national flag.
The last time I visited Bet Dwarka the Navy had provided a fast boat to go to the Bet (a kind of small island). But, this time my wife and I went by a civil boat. We felt thrilled to be part of dozens of others similarly beckoned:
What a history Dwarka has. It is one of the seven holiest cities of India. The priest Kapil Bhai informed us that its history dates back to five thousand years ago. Krishan ji, after he killed the rakshas (demon) Kansa, who ruled the city of Mathura, made Ugrasen the king. Kansa, as we have read the story a number of times, was Krishan ji’s mama (maternal uncle). Ugrasen was Kansa’s father. However, the king of Magadha, Jarasandha, who was Kansa’s father-in-law was unhappy with Krishan ji’s decision to handover the kingdom of Mathura to Kansa. He, therefore, kept attacking Mathura and every time he was defeated. Seeing what his people had to go through Krishna decided to found the city of Dwarka away from the danger of being attacked. The city was built, at the orders of Lord Krishna by Vishwakarma. Vishwakarma was visualized as the ‘Ultimate Reality’ as given in the Rig Veda. As his title suggests he was given the powers to create Heaven, Earth and other Celestial realms. He was the Lord of Art, Architecture and Engineering.
Dwarka was built on the sea-shore and on the banks of river Gomati. Many times the city was submerged in the sea and re-built. As one crosses to Bet Dwarka, in addition to the air and sand being replete with Krishna’s eternal presence, one is reminded of India’s great maritime heritage (regrettably, the British and other Westerns conveniently try to overlook that). However, Bet Dwarka has artifacts and nautical items having been found there that date back to pre-historic times.
As Lyn and I stepped ashore from the boat at Bet Dwarka and walked through narrow streets and came to the gate of the Bet Dwarka temple, we were immediately transported back in time.
Beyond this point, the camera and the cellphones had to be deposited. I remembered visiting these in 1993 when there were no such restrictions and one could freely walk in. But a lot of water has gone down the Ganges since then. On 25th Sep 02, the carnage in Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar, Gujarat has brought home the point that places of worship in India are on the hit list of terrorists, mainly from Pakistan.
Bet Dwarka has an enormous temple built for Lord Krishna and Radha. It was the residence of the Lord. This is where he met Sudama and gave him the gift (bhet) of rice. We were met by Vishal, a relation of our guide at Dwarkadheesh: Kapil bhai. Vishal’s father is the head priest in Bet Dwarka temple and took us around and explained the history to us. The tradition of giving rice to Brahmins continues even to this day; Lyn and I made a token contribution. The temple, however, is under renovation but largely the porticoes of the patrani, the statues and pillars are still intact.
As we took our boat back, we observed that there is a large mosque there that’s visible from the sea. It reminded us of two things: one, the co-existence of India’s cultural and religious diversity; and two, that gradually there is a demographic shift in the population of Bet Dwarka; out of 5000 people there, as Vishal informed us, only about a 1000 are Muslims now.
Lets now get back to the most beautiful, the most sacred and auspicious monument to see in Dwarka. Undoubtedly, it is the Dwarkadheesh temple. Once again, photographs are only taken outside since, for security purposes, the camera and cellphones are to be deposited outside. Here are some of the pics:
The history of the above temple says that seven times it was submerged under the sea. The original was built by Lord Krishna’s grandson King Vajra. There are two gates to the temple: the Swarg Dwar (gate to Heaven) and Moksha Dwar (the Liberation Gate). We attended the aarti (formal prayer service performed by the priests) and when the aarti lau (fire) came to us and like other eager devotees, we put our hands over it and touched our hearts, eyes and head; this simple ritual immediately transported us into another world. Despite the surging crowds to get a darshan (glimpse) of the idol Kalyan Narayan and of the other idols of Radha, Rukmani, Sudama etc, my observation is that somehow a heavenly tranquility descends on you, especially in the evening. Without being told, everyone talks in a hushed voice so as not to break the serenity.
The flag atop the temple is hoisted five times a day and is a ritual with significance. Kapil Bhai explained to us all the important details as one moves one’s eyes downwards from the top.
Here are glimpses of the sea close to the temple that I took at the sunset time. I was conscious of Arjuna’s account of the city of Dwarka having submerged into the sea (the account is found in Mahabharta), some four decades after Mahabharta in third century BC:
“The sea rushed into the city. It coursed through the streets of the beautiful city. The sea covered up everything in the city. I saw the beautiful buildings becoming submerged one by one. In a matter of a few moments it was all over. The sea had now become as placid as a lake. There was no trace of the city. Dwaraka was just a name; just a memory.”
Lets now move to the other temples and palces of historic importance in the area.
The first of these is Nageshwar Jyotirlinga. What is a Jyotirlinga? It is a huge endless pillar of light created by Lord Shiva to settle the issue of supremacy of Creation between Brahma (God of Creation) and Vishnu (God of Saving). Brahma and Vishnu travelled towards the two ends of the pillar of light called Jyotirlinga but admitted defeat when they could not find the ends. In Shiv Purana, there are 12 Jyotirlinga shrines mentioned. Nageshwar Jyotirlinga near Dwarka was the first one. Without taking you into the history of this historic and famous shrine, let me give you glimpses of what we saw:
A huge statue of Lord Shiva is in the temple premises:
A snake-charmer within the temple premises:
The ubiquitous chhakra or a tumtum driven by Royale Enfield engine is all over in the district:
Lets now move to Gopi talao. The stories of Lord Krishna’s childhood abound with youthful pranks and romance have a connection with this talao or pond. As a young boy, Krishna used to dance the raas with the Gopis (young female inhabitants) in Vrindavana. When he moved to Dwarka, the Gopis could not bear the separation and came to visit him. They united with their Krishna at the Gopi talav, 20 km north of Dwarka on the night of Sharad Purnima (full moon) and once again danced the raas with him. Legend says that, unable to part from Krishna, the Gopis offered their lives to the soil of this land and merged with their beloved. It is said that they turned into yellow clay, known as Gopi Chandan. Even today the soil of the Gopi talav is extremely smooth and yellow in color. Here are some of the pics:
The last place that we visited in Dwarka was the Rukmini temple. This temple stands 2 km away from Dwarka City. According to an old legend, once Lord Krishna and his wife Rukmini went to the sage Durvasha to invite him for dinner at Dwarka. He agreed on the condition that Krishna & Rukmini would have to pull his chariot instead of any animal. The couple happily obliged. While pulling the chariot, Rukmini became thirsty so Lord Krishna prodded his toe into the earth to draw a spring of the holy Ganga water. Rukmini took a sip without offering Durvasha. Annoyed by her impoliteness he cursed Rukmini that she would be separated from her beloved husband. Hence Rukmini temple is located 2 kms away. The temple has a painting describing this historic incident. Here are the pictures of our visit:
If you think it is all religiosity and faith and history and religion and nothing else, you are wrong. Inside Dwarkadheesh temple, for example, there is an inner domed Bhawan that has been constructed with funds donated by Smt. Kokilaben Ambani, wife of Reliance founder chairman Sh. Dhirubhai Ambani. It has a library and a teaching centre to teach two of the four Vedas: the Atharaveda, the Samaveda, the Rigveda and the Yajurveda. Kapil bhai took us there and we saw young would be priests being taught the vedas, in their yellow monk’s clothes. No wonder Kapil Bhai himself is so knowledgeable.
In the night, our driver locked the car with key inside and we slept in the Smt. Kokilaben Guesthouse (being run purely on charitable lines) without having our phones, camera and baggage. We had planned to leave for Somnath temple near Veraval, 235 kms south, by 8 AM. By 10 AM, when our baggage etc had not fetched up, a thought crossed our minds that our planned programme was adversely affected. It is at this stage that Kapil bhai came to see us. He had his total equanimity with him when he told us, “Aate bhi usi ki ichha se hain aur jaate bhi usi ki ichha se hain” (You arrive here at a time desired by Him and you would depart at a time willed by Him).
Kapil bhai, even when we were departing, gave us the truth of life in very simple words.
I am waiting for His next summons to visit another place, temple, and shrine that He has intended for us.
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS – KANDAGHAT IN SHIMLA HILLS
Our present house is visible from this Research Station. My parents built it in 1976. The house and the land around it was named ‘Whispering Winds’ by us because of being in the Ghats with perpetual winds in the area, which tended to tell tales of far lands.
Whispering Winds is also visible as soon as you enter Kandaghat valley. The other house prominent to the right of it is Kissan Bhavan (Farmers Hostel) for the Agricultural Research Station.
Ours is a rare house with a drive-in road; a luxury in the hils. National Highway 22 leading from Ambala to Khab (near Indo-China border) and Shipkila and Namgial runs just above our house. The Kilometre Stone depicting Kandaghat 2 is very close to our house. The small gauge railway line between Kalka and Shimla (a World Heritage Railway Line) runs above. It has 103 tunnels in all. One of the tunnels is visible just above our house.
My father chose the pistachio colour for the house to jell with the surroundings. However, unlike houses in the hills he preferred not to have a sloping roof with slates. The view from the roof top is exquisite and we love to sit there and have sing-song sessions especially on moonlit nights.
A typical day in Whispering Winds starts with the enchanting twilight reaching out from the hill across our house.
As it lights up the sky, one can see the silhouettes of the trees taking shape.
Finally, it is bright. But, rarely does the sun scorch; it is, on the other hand, inviting and welcome. One could, until just a few years ago go for a walk even after the sun rose. Nowadays, you can’t go for a walk anytime during the day and the night; not because of the sun, but because of the chaotic traffic on the highway that mirrors traffic anywhere in India.
The town of Kandaghat is visible from the next turn on the hill from our house.
Kandaghat is a small sleepy town and the first thing that you see is the Railway Station in the tall Eucalyptus trees.
When I took the picture below in 2007, an Air Force Naval Housing Board (AFNHB) colony had just been sanctioned on the hill where you can see some HP Housing Board houses. Why a Naval Colony in Kandaghat, so far away from the coast? Well, the verdict was that I had something to do with the selection. The truth was that I was as much surprised by the announcement as anyone else.
A closer look of the Housing Colony.
Still closer look. The AFNHB Colony finally came up to the right of it.
The Himachal government did everything to make the colony easily accessible and provided a road all the way there.
I visited the colony during its early stages and liked the site. Yipee, I was soon going to have friends from the Navy and the Air Force staying there.
A view of the Kandaghat Railway Station. It is so beautiful that when you arrive here waiting for a train you actually want the train to be late so that you can soak in the beauty. For many years after I joined the Indian Navy in 1973 my parents used to come to the station to see me off after my annual leave, rush back to our house and I would wave at them from the train as it passed for about a kilometre stretch above our house. Even now when I see trains from our house, it fills my eyes with tears remembering my dad who died of a jeep accident just 9 kms from our house, in the year 1984, when he was just 56 years old.
Here is a view of the complete Kandaghat town. The top-most building used to be the palace of the Maharaja of Patiala since Kandaghat, Solan, Chail all were areas under the reign of the Majaraja. Later they formed parts of PEPSU (Patiala and East Punjab State Union); until 1967 when the reorganisation of Himachal took place and these areas came to be part of Himachal. Even today PEPSU buses run from Punjab to Chail, a town across Shimla that the Maharaja of Patiala made after he was banned by the British from entering Shimla after the alleged elopement of a British Lady with the Maharaja during the British Raj. Indeed, even till today, the part of the Mall at Shimla from where the Lady and the Maharaja eloped is called the Scandal Point. At the time of my birth, a part of the palace was converted into Officers’ Club and my father was the honorary secretary of the club.
Here is the pic of the Scandal Point at the Mall, Shimla. The guy in the pic is not the Maharaja though; it is me in my Navy cap:
If we look a little to the right of the Maharaja’s palace in Kandaghat, we start seeing the hills sloping down until they merge with the plains of Punjab.
The pic below shows the alignment of the road, NH 22 leading up to Kandaghat where the road crosses over from left hill to right hill of the ghat.
This part of Kandaghat shows a government school for girls and boys (Himachal being No.1 state in the country for spread of primary education) and the court of SDJM (Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate), Tehsil and Patwari offices and office and residence of SDM (Sub Divisional Magistrate). SDJM’s court has now been shifted to the Mini Secretariat of the HP Govt near the Police Station.
A polytechnic college came up in Kandaghat for the last three decades or so.
Computers and Internet came to Kandaghat in the last decade.
Alright, lets get back to Whispering Winds as seen from the Agricultural Research Station, the best located house in Kandaghat:
Lets also look at the orchard of the Research Station. The plants as seen in the pic are the Kiwi fruits.
Picture shows my younger son Arun in the orchard.
Kandaghat town has 120 villages. We are in the village Ded (One and a half! Since it is one and a half kms from Kandaghat. Earlier, the village was called Ded Gharat since at the village was an Atta Chakki (Flour grinding machine that ran with the flowing water of the stream)
My son with the ‘Chinese’ tractor at the Research Station.
Lets trace the journey of the train (called Toy Train) as it enters Kandaghat valley from Shimla (the glimpse of which is seen to the right of the train).
It looks so alluring as it winds its way through the hill. The road below the train track is the one that is leading from Kandaghat to Chail.
The train plays hide and seek as it takes turns and goes through tunnels.
The green building in the foreground is the office of the IPH (Irrigation and Public Health department). During my childhood we stayed here for a few years. The yellow building in front has apartments for the officers of the Agricultural Research Station.
The train when it passes over bridges like this brings out loud shrieks of joy from the passengers, most of which are tourists.
After the Station, that have already described earlier, it crosses above our house and is to be seen on the hill across from the house.
I used to continue waving at my parents for about 200 metres…
…..until the train would take a turn and enter a tunnel and leave the Kandaghat valley.
Here is a view of Ghaghar river that flows all the way from Shimla to Panchkula.
That’s the East hill. The palace of the Raj Mata, mother of Maharaja of Patiala is on the hill. The palace is called Blossom and is accessible from Chail. Close to Blossom is a tourist spot.
Just across from Whispering Winds is Thada Moola. Himachal is a land of gods (Dev Bhoomi). The god of Thada Moola looks after the safety and prosperity of people in the area. Indeed, if there is a serious accident on the road, it is widely believed that Thada Moola is angry and need to be appeased. His mandir (temple) is just below the hill.
You have seen Whispering Winds from the Agri Research Station. Now, here is a view of the latter.
The tall hill to the right of the Research Station has a temple called Karol temple.
My village Ded has just five families….all the houses are visible in the picture below:
Some of the green-houses of the Research station.
The road leading from Solan to Kandaghat……
……leads to Aab Shar, a place for the weary to take a break.
It even has a service station and guest rooms.
The train that I showed you earlier is just a few metres from Aab Shar.
It is now going towards Kandaghat.
The seasons change and now it is green.
Even the smoke of the train is alluring, though these are diesel fumes
Another train vanishes in the bend.
A view of the Mushroom Farm attached to our house. My father was a pioneer in cultivation of Button Mushrooms in this area. He was Project Director of the first UNDP Mushroom Project in Chambaghat about 12 kms from our house. This one he set on his own:
Look at the hills across, the Chail Hills:
Another Dhaba is about a km from our house towards Kandaghat.
And the road that goes from Kandaghat to Chail
A close view of the Housing Colony:
My mother poses for me here. The town of Kandaghat is in the background.
An alluring site:
I just love to be here:
And here:
Mom poses for me at Whispering Winds. She ensures that there are flowers all through the year:
Flowers and greenery:
The river Ghaghar can be seen in the background:
I can go on and on and there are still about a few dozen varieties left. Lets have a quick look at the places close to Kandaghat. The first is a place called Kiarighat on the way to Shimla. It is just 13 kms from our house. There is a Himachal Tourism Rest House there. The food is good and I particularly like the impressive moustache of our favourite waiter Chaman Lal. Have a look at the following pics:
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| Chaman Lal stands next to my mom at the Rest House at Kiarighat |
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| View from Kiarighat: My son (with his ‘Party Shirt’ with my wife). It is heavenly here. |
If you go further North, about thirty kms from our house in Kandaghat is the city of Shimla. It was the Summer Capital of India during the British rule. Every time I visit Kandaghat, I decide to visit Shimla for the sight of the Ridge, the Mall, Lakkar (Wood) Bazaar, excellent restaurants and just to soak in the sight of the lovely hills surrounding Shimla. Have a peep:
The highest point between Chandigarh and Shimla is Barog. It is as many kms south of our place as Shimla is to the north. It affords a panoramic view of both north and south. The picture above is of an exquisitely placed hotel called Barog Heights where you really feel as if you are airborne. Below are some more pics of Barog:
Shimla Hills, as the whole of Himachal is called Dev Bhoomi (Land of the gods). This is how a day begins at our house:
We have gods virtually at every turn of the hill:
My temporary abode,therefore, can be anywhere. But in the twilight years of my life, I’d love to get back to where my heart is: Kandaghat; and more specifically Whispering Winds:
This is where I feel totally at home and will always feel; as serene as the moon that rises across from the hill and fills my heart with a strange desire to be part of the surroundings.
CAN MUMBAI BECOME ANOTHER SHANGHAI?
Indians are great ones at comparisons and at imitating, in their own characteristic style, what people abroad have discovered or invented or made. We are also good at making words that never existed originally in the ‘foreign’ language. For example, if the English have a word called postpone, we feel that pone must be a word by itself and can be used with both post and pre. (Thank God, we don’t have a Preman to deliver mails that we are about to write). So, if they have a Hollywood, we must have a Bollywood. If they have a great city in Shanghai, we must have aamchi Mumbai equally great.
Hence, irrespective of where we are currently (Mumbai placed 116th in world cities for liveability ahead of only Dhaka, Tripoli, Jakarta etc) we have come up with a comparison between Mumbai and Shanghai; believing, as with everything else, that if it rhymes, it must also appeal to reason. We feel that simply by hoping and wishing, some magic wand will be waved and, lo and behold, Mumbai would become Shanghai. The fact is that despite the Western propaganda to forever denigrate China, Shanghai now ranks amongst the best in the world and Mumbai amongst the worst. Foreigners come to Mumabi to transact business as our corporate honchos have headquarters in Mumbai. However, rarely does anyone visit Mumbai to look at anything beautiful here.
Two years ago, in January, I visited China with the Naval Higher Command Course of the Indian Navy (I was the Director of the College of Naval Warfare). The first Chinese city that we touched down at was Shanghai, straight from Mumbai. Here is what we saw.
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| An elevated way goes across the city |
We found the city spic and span; with no comaprison with Mumbai whatsover. There are no ubiquitous slums, filth, traffic chaos, dust and confusion. As far as traffic is concerned, they have an elevated way that goes across the length of the city. At least I didn’t come across the kind of perpetual traffic jams that are so common in Mumbai.
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| The old existing with the new |
What Shanghai is all about can be seen on Wikipedia or Wikitours and other sites. But, I am giving the pics and description to show my impressions of the city.
Lets start our visit from Xintiandi. It is an affluent, car-free shopping district of Shanghai. Seeing it at night is an exquisite experience. Even though it is the site of the first congress of the Communist Party of China, the narrow streets are marked by restaurants, cafes, shopping malls and theatres. Have a look at the following pictures:
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| My wife and I at the Xintiandi |
Nanjing Road is the main shopping street of Shanghai and is one of the world’s busiest shopping streets. The first thing that occurs to you here is that it appears as grand, if not better, than the Times Square in New York. Except for the toy trains, which don’t come in your way, it is a pedestrian’s delight. Have a look at the following pictures and see if Mumbai would ever have something similar:
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| Nanjing Street at Night is a Visual Delight |
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| Night or day, it is meant for pedestrians only |
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| One of the toy trains for the shoppers |
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| Despite all the population of China…. |
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| ….people dont bump into one another as they do in Mumbai |
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| The orderly behaviour of the people is commendable |
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| It is a shopper’s paradise |
Shanghai glitters at night and is spic n span by day. One reason why day-dreamers in India and Mumbai ike to compare with Shanghai is because the re-development of the city into one of the top financial capitals of the world began only about two decades back. It is now ranked fifth in the 2011 edition of Global Financial Centres Index published by the city of London. However, even in the beginning of the last century Shanghai was the most prosperous and largest city in the Far East. Three years back, the Shanghai Stock Exchange was ranked third amongst the stock exchanges of he world in terms of trading volumes and sixth in terms of total capitalisation of listed companies.
Central Business District of Shanghai is Pudong. Compare it with Colaba and also compare it with the efforts in last two decades to have a brand new CBD in Belapur, Mumbai:
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| Pudong at night |
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| Pudong in the daytime |
The sky tower to the left of the picture above is the TV tower in Shanghai called the Oriental Pearl Tower or simply the Pearl Tower. Even though I was not a very senior Indian Navy officer, but, being the head of the College of Naval Warfare (Now Naval War College) from where most flag officers in the Navy graduate, the Chinese accorded me a grand welcome. We, in India, reserve this kind of welcome for the political big wigs only; having no respect for the armed forces, except when we require them.
The Pearl Tower is 438 m high and was completed in four years between 1990 and 1994. For 13 years stood as the tallest structure in Shanghai until it was overtaken by the Shanghai World Financial Center. Even though a symbol of modernity, the design of the building is said to be based on a verse of the Tang Dynasty poem Pipa Song. The poem by Bai Juyi reminds one about the sound of pipa instrument, which is like pearls falling on a jade plate.
The following pictures give the views of the tower, the viewing gallery and of the areas around the tower. Even though it is a tourist place and tourist district (people throng here in thousands), please notice that there are no ubiquitous garbage dumps, litter and filth unlike Mumbai.
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| The Oriental Pearl Tower at Pudong, Shanghai |
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| My wife with the PLA (Navy) officer Guide ‘Maria’ |
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| Ferries at the Huangpu river |
All that you see from the tower is marked on the glass consoles at the gallery. In addition, one can listen to the commentary on an audio-video device. And then, of course, there are guides:
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| A view of the Viewing Gallery |
Have a look at the Oriental Pearl Tower in comparison to other TV Towers in the world:
At the ground floor of the Tower is the Shanghai Urban History and Development Musuem. It is really equisitely laid out showing the history of the city of Shanghai, its culture, traditions etc. I found it is better laid out and more imaginatively displayed than Madame Tussaud’s at London. Have a look: the first three pictures are of displays just outside the museum:
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| Entrance to the museaum |
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| Perserving history; Shanghai style |
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| More realistic than Madame Tussaud’s |
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There is a display on every aspect of city history and development:
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| This is not a picture in the musuem but a large court room with wax figures |
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| Ballroom with life-size figures |
Shanghai Expo was going to be held from 1st of May 2010 to 31 Oct 2010. Even though we visited Shanghai in the month of January 2010, everything about the Expo was ready and there was no last minute rush as could be seen at New Delhi Commonwealth Games etc. Picture below is the entrance of the Expo Gallery:
The large real-life displays in the Gallery had visitors see the city, its sights and greatness:
The displays could be lit too to show the city in all its glory at night:
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| Signing the Visitors Book at the Gallery |
The Gallery also had a 3D description of the city and the various Expo pavillions.
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| Back to the entrance |
Chinese are very fond of pets and these can be seen everywhere. Like people, these too are very well behaved. Mumbai is not the city for pets but for stray dogs:
This is how spic n span Shanghai looks:
Even the old quarters are clean:
Before I end about Shanghai and show Mumbai in comparison, let me take you to the Yuyuan Garden in the heart of the old city, showing taditional Shanghai in the midst of modernity. Here is a description of it from Wilipedia: The garden was first established in 1559 as a private garden created by Pan Yunduan, who spent almost 20 years building a garden to please his father Pan En, a high-ranking official in the Ming Dynasty, during his father’s old age. Over the years, the gardens fell into disrepair until about 1760 when bought by merchants, before suffering extensive damage in the 19th century. In 1842, during the Opium Wars, the British army occupied the City God Temple for five days. During the Taiping Rebellion the gardens were occupied by imperial troops, and damaged again by the Japanese in 1942. They were repaired by the Shanghai government from 1956–1961, opened to the public in 1961, and declared a national monument in 1982.
Views of the old city just outside the Yuyuan Garden:
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| Modernity with the tradition |
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| Entrance to the Yuyuan Garden |
No photo-essay about Shanghai can be complete without a mention of the famous Sahnghai Acrobatics. The acrobatic performances are held each night and last for about 2 hours. The Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe, established in 1951 is one of the best in China. It frequently tours internationally and perform routinely at Shanghai and other cities in China. An acrobatic show has become one of the most popular evening entertainments for tourists in Shanghai. You can enjoy gravity-defying contortionism, juggling, unicycling, chair-stacking, and plate-spinning acts. It is simply breath-taking and with clockwork precision; two hours without a break and you never know how the time flies.
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| The trees and the buildings are beautifully lit at night |
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| Entrance to the Acrobatics Theatre |
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| It is simply breath-taking |
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| In addition to acrobatics skills, items are presented very imaginatively |
With this, lets now turn to Aamchi Mumbai. There are some heritage buildings in Mumabi like the World Heritage Victoria Terminus, belatedly having changed its name to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus or the Gateway of India, which was built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Bombay in Dec 1911.
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| Victoria Terminus, now called Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus |
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| Apollo Bunder showing the Taj Mahal Hotel and the Gateway of India |
However, what hits you hard about Mumbai is the filth everywhere, the open defecation and urination, the lack of any beautiful or well maintained buildings, pot holed roads, slums, squalor and lakhs of people giving you no space at all.
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| All water bodies in Mumbai, without exception, are filthy |
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| Slums right next to the airport |
Let alone a foreigner driving in Mumbai, the city’s overcrowded and rickety trains are not at all safe for anyone at all:
Mumbai roads and railways are notorious for their breakdowns; anything more than the smallest rains brings the city to a stand-still.
Mithi river cleaning is going on for quite sometime but in Mumbai, the politics gets into everything and the authorities just don’t have the determination to finish any project:
The last census showed that in Dharavi, there is a toilet to about 750 people and hence open defecation is a norm. Similarly, people living in extreme filthy conditions is a common sight.
The buildings perpetually look black and ugly and people crossing the railway lines is a common sight. Indeed, the authorities shy away from bringing any sort of discipline in civic life.
During the rains, people are virtually by themselves battling against the ravages of nature. (Read Mumbai Rains in the same blog)
Traffic in Mumbai is totally chaotic and one feels grateful to God if one reaches the destination without injury or death (Read ‘Why Must We Love Indian Roads?‘). In addition, Mumbai is amongst the noisiest cities in the world. The general noise is increased manifold during the religious festivals (Read ‘A Quieter Mumbai – Is It A Pipe Dream?)
What Needs to be Done? I can go on and on. However, here is a quick list of things to accomplish the make-over of Mumbai into Shanghai:
- The first thing to do is to get rid of the misplaced notion that Mumbai is livable and a great city. It is really at the bottom of the world’s big cities. With this realisation should come the sobering thought that something needs to be done urgently before people die of plague and other epidemics and of unsafe transportation conditions.
- The second thing to do is to bring some discipline in Mumbai’s civic life. At the present juncture all political parties revel in promoting indiscipline, pandering to such “pro poor policies” as those that do nothing to make the lives of poor better but use them as vote banks.
- BMC or Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations is the richest municipal corporation in Asia; there is, therefore, no shortage of funds. However, large scale corruption and inefficiency are endemic. Surprisingly, even after the repeated criticism of the people against failure of BMC to maintain even a modicum of civic life, it was recently voted back into power. This shows the hold of the politicians on the vote banks (mostly in slums; after independence, the areas under slums have almost doubled in percentage) and the apathy of the well-meaning people in participating in elections that can change their lot. After 26/11 Terror Attacks in Colaba, when the people vented their anger at the authorities for not doing anything to make their lives safer, Colaba recorded the lowest percentage of voters in the elections.
- Roads in the city are in pathetic state due to rampant corruption in which both the authorities and the contractors participate. This has to be put a stop to and people at large must demand this of the authorities. One method is to display the pictures and names of the concerned contractor and the councillor on every road maintained by them.
- We need to ensure that infrastructural projects don’t keep pace with the past demand but with the future projections. These are to be made corruption free, with transparent implementation.
- There has to be more coordination between various givernment departments so that telephones department, for example, doesn’t routinely dig those roads that have just been re-surfaced.
- The city urgently needs an efficient garbage disposal system.
- Monitoring of traffic and booking of defaulters has to be more efficient rather than based on ad-hoc fining, bribes etc.
- Decongestion of some parts of the city can only be done by providing alternatives. For example, the reason why Mumbai trains are overcrowded is because millions of people commute to South Mumabi everyday where majority of business and government offices are situated. Strong political and corporate will is required to move out some of these to the suburbs and Navi Mumbai.
- Harvesting of rainwater is one of the means to get over Mumbai’s perennial water shortages. Once again, it has to be done with greater sense of urgency.
- Meausres like air-conditioned trains will greatly reduce the car traffic in the city.
- Housing laws need to made more stringent. At the present juncture taking liberities with the laws is more of a rule than exception. The politician-builder link also needs to be breached.
A new dawn for Mumbai to realise its dream of becoming another Shanghai awaits us only if we have the will to bring about changes that may be in conflict with our habitual way of doing things. It is better to do these things now rather than after a number of disasters.
OVERBOARD – OVERSEAS
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| Young ‘dreamer’ in the Navy |
What? To fix me thus meant nothing? But I can't tell (there's my weakness) What her look said!---no vile cant, sure, About need to strew the bleakness Of some lone shore with its pearl-seed. That the sea feels''---no strange yearning That such souls have, most to lavish Where there's chance of least returning.''
The last two lines have an enigma about them as well as promise of romance. One would think that it is exactly as given in the story books. However, we learnt it the hard way during our trip to Athens way back in 1975 immediately after being commissioned. We were ambling in the Constitution Square when a kind man came to us and asked if we were Indian. He said that he admired Indians and would like us to have drinks in the company of his fair-sex friends. The drinks were nice and the girls were nicer still. We talked about our great nations, our history and heritage, Taj Mahal, Delhi etc (amongst other things, that is) and really enjoyed ourselves. We were under-trainee Acting Subaltern Lieutenants on board. We were convinced that we were smarter, wittier, more interesting company; else, why would the girls be attracted to us as compared to our more senior colleagues from the ship Himgiri? In our megalomaniac trance we did not know that the man who had invited us had quietly vanished and so had our seniors. Later, we were asked to pay an exorbitant bill for the drinks, and we had to part with our entire foreign allowance and more. We were the suckers who had fallen for the obvious ploy. When we returned on board we were ‘ceremoniously’ received with all the seniors lining the gangway and going through the motions of a mock side-pipe.
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| At Shanghai, just before retiring |
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| At the Great Wall of China |
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| Tempo – the type driven by Avtar Singh |
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| On duty in uniform but ‘liberty’ in civvies |
I still remember the time whe we landed up at Colombo. In order to shop there we had to first convert our Indian rupees into local currency. Just as it happened in Athens, a kind hearted gentleman came and asked us to put our money in individual envelopes that he had brought, write the names and amounts on the sealed envelopes and then he’d go and get the requisite local currency. He took the envelopes from us only to make a list and then handed these back to us. We held on to these whilst he went on his errand.
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| Courtesy: gamerswithjobs.com |
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| As a Lieutenant in Florence, Italy |
Finally, with all the sights that we were to see, there was no time left for lunch and we discussed amongst ourselves that we’d just grab some fast food on the way. Primo showed us on the map that, with our permission, he’d like to follow a different route for going back to Rome. He made us understand by gestures that his in-laws stayed in a village and it would not be too much of a detour to go via the village. The only problem was that along the way we didn’t come across a single place where we could stop for lunch.
Primo’s people lived in a farmhouse and the entire family was there to greet us. Within no time, they made us feel like honoured guests from India. We, having been brought up with class-distinctions in India, were pleasantly surprised to see them offering us a sumptuous lunch, champagne and wine and finally carry-away gifts.
Until many years later, I kept thinking of what made Primo do so; possibly the lunch and the gifts were worth more than the hire-charges of his cab. I would like to believe that the concern we had shown for his lunch at Florence, even though expressed in a language foreign to him, made the difference.
Navy is a true international service; it is because most often than not it operates beyond 12 nautical miles of the coast and hence in international waters called the high seas. Our counterparts from the Army and the Air Force rarely leave the country whereas we do it on an everyday basis; in almost every sailing we leave the territorial limits of the country. Navy gave me the opportunity to touch various shores, both by sea and by air. Wherever I went, I never forgot the lesson that Primo imparted us in my grooming years.
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| Maori welcome in Auckland, New Zealand |
I remember Captain of our Cadets Training Ship Delhi addressing the ship’s company before entering the port of Aden; my first foreign port. He said each one of us were the ambassadors of our great nation ashore and were expected to conduct ourselves likewise. I thought to myself: ‘What great luck to be called “Your Excellency” at the age of twenty-one’. In the remaining nearly four decades of being in the Navy, we took our ‘ambassadorial’ duties rather earnestly. And guess what? Everywhere we went, the people responded with warmth and affection. The girls? Well, that’s another story.
CHINA – IMPRESSIONS OF MY VISIT
To most Indians China is a quaint country. One hears of it, admires its culture and food but does not routinely plan to visit it. It is only recently that we have had a renewed interest in China, thanks to a series of postures and events culminating in the efficiently conducted Beijing Olympics; and later Expo at Shanghai. China fills us with emotions ranging from awe to anxiety. Last year we concluded the Commonwealth Games and sobriety about our oft repeated comparison with this emerging superpower would have hit us like a wet towel.
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| Our reception at Pudong Airport, Shanghai |
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| Commander Shanghai Naval Base RAdm Xu Weibing hosting banquet fro u |
We had a grand reception at the airport. Suddenly, we were told that Commander Shanghai Naval Base, RAdm Xu Weibing, would be our chief host in place of the Deputy Commander as had been planned
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| Breathtaking Acrobatics |
earlier. The next evening we had a visit to the Shanghai Naval Base where we were received by the Base Commander himself. During the banquet dinner, as he sat next to me and I thanked him for looking after us so well, he said he had received a call from Admiral Shengli and the latter had told him to spare no efforts to make our visit successful, fruitful and comfortable. At one time, before leaving for China, we were worried whether the naval delegation would be welcome there. But, once there, thanks to the Admiral, even the ladies were looked after in a grand manner. We visited the Pearl Tower, the main tourist attraction at Shanghai. In a public place we were received by a reception party accompanied by a military band. In the evening, we were told that the Admiral had gifted tickets for the world famous Shanghai Acrobatics show for all of us. And what a show it was. For nearly two hours we sat spellbound as we watched the acrobats perform their miraculous acts in a continuous flow of music and performances.
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| Signing Visitors’ Book at Shanghai Expo |
The city was spotlessly clean and extremely presentable. It must rank amongst some of the world’s great cities such as New York and Sydney. There were no slums anywhere and the traffic ran smoothly. Young men and women moved around as freely as in any western country. We saw all the sites for Expo 2010 to be held from May to Oct 10. And yet, all the centres and infrastructure were ready good five months before the Expo. There was a sense of pride in the Shanghai people to put their best foot forward. Most of them said that the Expo would be to Shanghai what Olympics were to Beijing.
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| Brocade Museum – Nanjing |
Our next city visit was to Nanjing. Rear Admiral Li Zhouming, Commandant, Naval Command College, was our host there. I had received the Commandant in my capacity as Director Maritime Warfare Centre, Mumbai, in Feb 05. He remembered that and also said that Admiral Shengli had phoned him to make our visit successful. In addition to official interactions we visited the Nanjing Massacre Museum showcasing the Japanese atrocities; and the Nanjing Brocade Museum.
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| PLA (N) Hqs at Beijing |
At Beijing, thanks once again to the personal instructions of Admiral Shengli, we interacted with a high level delegation comprising the Chief of Staff, General Staff, PLAN Headquarters, VAdm Su Shi Liang, and his entire team of senior staff including the Deputy Chief of Staff, RAdm Liuo Shining.
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| The fare at ther Duck restaurant |
A visit to the Great Wall of China and to a Chinese Duck restaurant were thrown in at Beijing. Even though the weather is reputed to be bad during January, in keeping with the warmth we had generated, wherever we went it was nice and sunny. I was relatively junior in hierarchy but I was treated with a protocol befitting an Admiral; complete with police pilot escorts wherever we went.
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| At the Great Wall of China |
We hear a lot about Chinese incursions in the Indian Ocean; their doggedness in what they call their private lake, that is, the South China Sea, string of pearls theory and refusal to let LtGen BS Jaswal, Northern Army Commander, visit China on a planned visit. But, we of the CNW, for those seven days in January last year completely forgot about the Dragon and were as much home there as we would be, say, in Mauritius. Naval diplomacy worked and worked well. There was no great wall between us.
TRIP TO SHAHDOL AND JABALPUR IN MADHYA PRADESH
Photo essay of my visit to Shahdol (Suhagpur) and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh where my company, Reliance, has Coal Bed Methane gas-wells over an area of 1000 sq km. Hence, I had to visit remote villages, forests and fields.
Two boys washing their bicycle in a pond. Easy availability of water during the monsoons has led to greenery everywhere (Photo taken from train near Annupur, 30 mins short of Shadol
A view of National Highway 78. It must look good on the map! This was a good stretch; you should see the bad stretches. PM Rajiv Gandhi once said only 23 paise out of one rupee actually reaches the roads; rest gets pocketed. The present estimate is less than 23 paise.
As compared to Punjab, Haryana, HP, wayside dhabas are rare. Indeed, from Shahdol to Jabalpur there are hardly any eating joints.
Large tracts of fertile land with no cultivation. The cattle feed on wild grass and bushes
Wilderness!
We actually drove through this pond!
A security post in the middle of nowhere!
Most villages we saw had water, electricity, SBI and BSNL connection
A Mahua Tree. Its fruit is intoxicating and is used for making local brew by the same name. The left dry side of the tree is where lightening fell just a day prior to my visit killing four cows on the spot.
Closer look at the verdant Mahua tree.
We went through some really thick vegetation. It was scary due to palpable fear of Naxalites but the DC and SP of the area told me later that the area is “relatively safe”
Ballu Yadav, my driver, all of twenty, started driving at the age of 17 years. He could handle this Bolero with skill even in the tough terrain and I felt totally safe with him.
Sone river in full spate because of incessant rains. This part of MP has plenty of water.
With all the progress it is still bare minimum amenities in the villages. Ballu told me that a girl child gets a lot of incentives through ‘Laadli Lakshmi’ scheme and even the Adivasis get monetary remuneration on filing complaints against harrassment.
Highway? No place for another vehicle to cross. It must look good as a thick line on a map! Anyway, this is the heart of coal mines, illegal smuggling of coal etc. I met one such Don who was attired as a Swami but rolls in money and power due to coal smuggling.
Are we not lucky we have highways (!) running through the length and breadth of our country?
At some places in East Suhagpur the highway was in good state.
Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojna also seems to have made huge difference.
At many places under the Yojana concretisation of roads has been done.
Viraat temple in Shahdol; built in the year 1759. A few years later, due to earthquake one portion of the temple sank into the earth. What stands now is leaning like the tower in Pisa. It is a Shiva temple; people refer to it as Teda Mandir
A view of the Bhedaghat waterfall near Jabalpur. The Narmada river falls with such velocity that it makes water vapour to rise. Hence, it is named Dhuandaar at this stage
A breathtaking view of the Dhuandaar.
A cable car is a great attraction for the tourists and goes over the falls.
The river is lined by marble rocks on both sides. These are looking dirty due to the rains, but, at other times I am told that the marble is so white that it shines enchantingly in moonlight
Downstream, the river settles into a more placid one allowing boating to take place except during monsoons.